After a long absence, I'm back! Hopefully I can add some further info to
Eagle's excellent suggestions.
As you have a tour already booked in May, that's a fixed point around which you can work. April weather in Europe is typical Spring weather - some showers, some sun, cooler evenings (light jacket, nothing major required). May is the beginning of the Summer Season in Greece, but it certainly will be warmer than nothern Europe so that will be a bonus (things in Greece usually kick of May 1st, but take until June to fully "Summer up". Same goes for Ibiza, so hang off on that as long as you can.).
So from what I can make out, you fly into Amsterdam on April 3rd then it's fairly unplanned until the Greece tour.
Thus, to get you started, you could look at:
Amsterdam - 4 nights (3 full days)
train to
Hamburg, stay Hamburg 3-4 nights (depending on family commitments. No doubt they will have places they want to show you in the city and nearby places - it's a great town, habour cruise is a must, so enjoy the north of Germany.
train to
Berlin - stay 4 nights minimum, there's so much to see and do in this awesome town, so 3 full days will be a good start.
train to
Prague via Dresden - if you're interested in museums and art, you could stay a night in Dresden (it's only 2hrs by train from Berlin) and explore, or just have a lunch stop there for a few hours before continuing to Prague by train.
Prague - stay 4 nights, again lots to see and do so 3 full days is a good amount, but one more won't hurt if you plan to do a day trip to Kutna Hora. You could also take a trip overnight (or a long day trip) to Cesky Krumlov (bus is better than train on this route) for some stsunning scenery. Do a little research on both and see if they interest you, then add the extra days to Prague as required.
train to
Vienna (4hrs45mins on direct EC train) - stay 3 nights, 2 full days; not sure if you're into Vienna, but I think it's a good addition to your trip. You can even catch the hovercraft from Vienna to Bratislava (capital of Slovakia, cute little town) for lunch and a look around if you add another day to your stay in Vienna, but I wouldn't stay in Bratislava as is not a huge place, just a cute old town and the hovercraft is a good scenic ride.
train to
Salzburg - takes around 2hrs45mins, stay 1 night (will give you time on day of arrival and next morning) unless you want to do a Sound of Music tour or see other parts (the Salt Mines, etc), in which case stay 2 nights.
train to
Munich - from Salzburg will take 1hr30 on the fast train/EC train. Stay in Munich 4 nights which will allow for time in the city as well as a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle (and the other Ludwig castles), and half a day to visit Dachau.
train to
Innsbruck - back to Austria, but a more sensible route and a funky little Tirolean town to stay for a night or two. If you're into hiking or mountain biking, then look at venturing further up the Tirol to smaller villages, otherwise 1 night in Innsbruck is worth a wander around.
train to
Venice - this will take a little over 5hrs, so a chunk of your day, but it's worth it as the scenery is great and then you're in Venice. Stay 3 nights, so 2 full days, and try to book accommodation as far ahead as possible so you get a good deal.
From Venice, you can fly to
Athens (look at direct flights with Aegean Air, otherwise you'll need to fly from Rome so you could train there first, stay a bit and then fly) to have a day or two before your tour begins, or if you find you have a few more days up your sleeve you could take the boat from Venice to Athens (Pireaus) on a 2 day cruise. If this sounds interesting, look at
www.ferries.gr/greek-ferries-italy-greece.htm and book a twin cabin to sail down the Adriatic (the sail out of Venice is spectacular, stand on the port - left - side for awesome views as you start out).
Greece Tour
Athens fly to
Rome, stay Rome 4 nights
From here, you have several options, depending on where you need to be next: you could take a train to wherever you need to be in
Calabria, unless your relatives meet you somewhere and drive the rest of the way as trains don't service all of the smaller towns there. Or you could fly from Rome to Sicily (Catania or Palermo, whichever suits better) and once you've visited family then take the excellent ferry from Messina to Reggio di Calabria and see the whirlpools on the Straits of Messina made famous by Ulysses's journeys in Homer's "Odyssey", and train on from there to the rest of Calabria. If you do that, you'll need to make your way back to Rome or Naples for a flight to Spain (there are boats, but check ones from Sicily as I'm not familiar with them).
Spain - not sure where you're thinking of visiting other than Ibiza (stay for 3 nights, but again book accommodation well in advance and be prepared for expensive club entry and drinks), but also consider Barcelona (ferries to/from Ibiza, or cheap flights) and Madrid.
Not sure where in
France you're considering, but if you're just looking at Paris, then fly from Madrid or Barcelona as the train is very long. Or if you're considering the French Riviera, you can also fly from Barcelona or Madrid to Marseille and now Nice. Do this as the train is over 12hrs long and only in the day, so a waste of a day when you could be sightseeing in a city. From Nice, you can take a train to Paris, either direct, or stop at places along the way for a night or two.
A few questions/notes:
1. what are you both interested in? ie nightlife, museums, food.
2. are there any particular places/sights either of you have on your "must-see" lists?
3. transport - as
Eagle has noted, you might find a combination of trains and flights (plus a few bus trips in Sicily and Calabria) will be your best best, so don't purchase any flights within Europe or any rail passes until you've set your itinerary.
4. Where in Spain and France are you considering? That will help with itinerary route.
Hopefully that gives you a skeleton itinerary to build on. Let us know when you've got your first draft and we'll go from there.
